NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 411 



dark line from each side of the lower mandible. Tibiae and under tail coverts 

 dark brown. Total length about 13 inches, wing 6, tail 6.} inches. 



Hub. Southern North America and Central America. Spec. in. Mus. Acad., 

 Philada., and Mus. Smiths. Inst., Washington. 



14. QinscAMJS tenuirostris, Swainson. 



Quiscalus tenuirostris, Swains. Cab. Cy. p. 299, (1838.) 



" Quiscalus orizivorus." Name on spec, in Massena collection. 



Swains. Cab. Cy., fig. 51, b. c. 



Specimens in Acad. Mus., without labels, from the Massena collection and 

 one specimen from Mexico in the Smiths. Mus., undoubtedly of this species and 

 clearly distinct from either of the preceding. The females are much lighter 

 colored than those of either Q. major or Q. macrourus, and easily to be distin- 

 guished, and in this species the slender bill is a strong and apparently reliable 

 character. It is carefully given by Mr. Swainson as above cited, and his de- 

 scription is quite sufficient for the identification of the species. 



About the size of Q. major ; form lengthened and not so robust as in either 

 of the preceding ; bill much more slender, nearly straight ; wing long, third 

 quill longest ; tail long, graduated, outer feathers about 3 inches shorter than 

 those in the middle of the tail ; feet and claws more slender than in the pre- 

 ceding species. 



Adult male. Black, the entire plumage with a fine purple lustre inclining 

 to steel blue on the wing coverts and upper tail coverts. Wings and tail with 

 a slight bluish lustre. Bill and feet black. Total length about 15 inches, 

 wing 6i to 7, tail 8 inches. 



Female. General^ resembling the females of the preceding two species, but 

 much lighter colored. Head above and neck behind light brown, inclining to 

 chestnut or bay color ; back, wings and tail dark brown, or nearly brownish 

 black. Under parts light, dull yellowish brown, much paler on the throat ; 

 tibiae and under tail coverts dark brown. Total length about 11 to 12 inches, 

 wing 5]-, tail 5.] to 6 inches. 



Hah. Mexico. Spec, in Mus. Acad., Philada., and Smiths. Inst., Washington. 



This is an entirely respectable species, though apparently not much known 

 to naturalists. It belongs strictly to the sub-group of Quiscalus to which the 

 name Megaquiscalus is given in this memoir, all the species of which are char- 

 acterized by their large size and long tails. This bird is easily recognized by 

 its slender bill, and in the adult male the lustre appears to be nearly uniform 

 purple with little change or variation in any exposure to the light. The 

 female can easily be distinguished from that of either of the preceding by its 

 lighter colors, and especially by the quite different color of the head above and 

 neck behind. In one female specimen in the Massena collection the throat 

 might be described as dull j-ellowish white, and the entire under parts of the 

 body but little darker. One female specimen in the Mus. Smiths., undoubtedly 

 from Mexico, clearly determines the locality of this species. 



15. Quiscalus palustris, (Swainson.) 



Scaphidurus palustris, Swains. Philos. Mag., 1827, p. 437. 



In one of the interesting and valuable collections from North Western Mexi- 

 co, sent to the Smithsonian Institution by Col. A. J. Grayson, late of the 

 United States Army, I am greatly gratified to find two specimens of a species 

 quite unknown to me previously, and which seem to be the Mexican bird de- 

 scribed by Swainson as above cited. These specimens are not in adult plu- 

 mage and are not quite so large as the dimensions given, but they are evidently 

 assuming the colors as given in the description, and I have no doubt are the 

 species. From Mazatlan, Mexico. 



Mr. Swainson's description is : " Glossy blue black ; thighs brown ; bill 

 slender, commissure straight; legs slender; claws long, slightly curved. 

 Total length 15 inches, bill 1 7-10, wing Q\, tail 7i, tarsi If inches/' 



"Inhabits the marshes and borders of the lakes round Mexico in flocks. M. 



1866.] 



